Shahriman’s counsel Gopal Sreenivasan told Justice Leong Wai Hong of the development today, which S Rabindra, representing Shahril, confirmed.

“In accordance with my Lord’s very useful suggestion to us earlier, counsel had the opportunity to meet this afternoon, and I’m happy to report that as far as we are concerned, it appears that we are closer than before in terms of trying to achieve resolution,” said Gopal.

He added, however, that both parties were still working on “one or two issues” regarding the terms of the settlement, and requested time to resolve them.

Both lawyers expressed urgency in finalising the matter and said they would inform the court if a settlement could be recorded before the next hearing on Nov 11.

Shahriman filed the petition to wind up SHSB, the parent company of more than 40 subsidiaries valued at RM832 million, including public-listed Sapura Resources Bhd.

Both Shahril and Shahriman hold a 48% stake in SHSB, while the remaining 4% is owned by Rameli Musa, who is also named as a respondent in the petition.

In the petition filed in September last year, Shahriman claimed that an irretrievable breakdown in trust and confidence between him and Shahril warranted the company’s dissolution.

He also alleged that the strained relationship was aggravated by disputes surrounding Project Apex, the development of the 52-storey Sapura Permata tower in the city centre.

The respondents opposed the petition, arguing that SHSB was never intended to function as a family company and that its dissolution would be neither just nor equitable.